


paperman

by dweirs



Category: Primeval: New World
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-04 18:25:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/713691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dweirs/pseuds/dweirs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during 1x12 after Ange’s visit to Cross Photonics. Ange returns to Project Magnet base clearly frustrated over Evan’s lack of cooperation hindering her from helping. But seeing her upset is not something Ken has ever been a fan of, and with him now out of confinement and working beside her, he decides to do something about it. He may not be able to fix the situation right away, but alleviating her stress and giving her a pleasant distraction is the least he can do for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	paperman

As she returned to her office after visiting Cross Photonics, Ange fell into her desk chair, sighing heavily as she raised a hand to her temple. It was a frustrating situation she’d been thrown into, and with the falling out and resignation from Cross Photonics, convincing Evan to do anything became harder than ever. Over the years Ange grew accustomed to him dodging her, but things were vastly different now. Now she didn’t even have their friendship to fall back on in her persuasions. Nevertheless, she would keep doing her best. Maybe then she could fix the crazy life they’d all come to live. Unfortunately there was only so much she could do at a time before attempting to convince him to work for Hall once more. He’d always been stubborn, and convincing him to do anything proved tricky.

In the meantime, Ange busied herself with organizing her desk. She’d only taken over management of Project Magnet quite recently and hadn’t yet gotten the chance for getting her personal space in order. Unfortunately, the worries on her mind were affecting her more than the distraction of organization could fix, and the stress showed clearly on her face. For what must have been the millionth time she adjusted the position of her computer, tilting and scooting it every which way and yet still not feeling satisfied with the position. Finally she stopped, too frustrated with the piece of machinery, and she let out a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. It was then that she heard it - a soft whoosh and a tiny rustling beside her on the desk. A confused expression washed over her face at the noise as it sounded like the rustling of paper, although there was no fan nor open window in the room to cause that.

Ange turned her head, surprised at the sight of a small pile of paper planes gathered there, and she could only assume that her frustration distracted her from the sounds of them flying in. A couple were scattered along the floor not far from the desk, apparently having missed their target. Reaching over, Ange picked up the fallen planes, placing them on her desk with the rest of them, and when another came flying into her office it landed neatly in her lap. She took it in her hands, staring down at the paper in confusion before craning her head to peer out her office door. It only took a moment for her to realize where the planes were coming from. Ken’s new office was situated directly across the hall from her own, and sure enough when she glanced over her eyes were met with the sight of a grinning Ken who hurriedly averted his eyes and pretended to look busy when he noticed her gaze. Despite her frustration over a great number of things right now, Ange couldn’t help smiling just a little, the corners of her lips curving slightly upwards as she shook her head.

Setting the carefully folded plane on her desk atop the small pile, Ange rose from her seat and walked the short distance across to Ken’s office. Once there, she leaned against the frame of the door, a slightly amused expression threatening to take over the stern look she tried to keep in place. “You know,” she began, catching the attention of Ken, who’d been staring firmly at the desk ever since she noticed him flying the planes into her office. “I didn’t get you released from confinement so you could sit behind a desk and throw paper at me. Or is this how government men show gratitude?” She did her best to keep her voice sounding stern as possible, not wanting to let on that she found the sentiment rather adorable but unable to be too harsh on him either.

Ange couldn’t quite tell whether or not it worked, although he still looked politely apologetic as he looked at her, nervously fumbling with a half folded plane in his hands. “Sorry. I… You looked like you could use a bit of a distraction.”

“So you fly planes into my office like a schoolboy?”

Unfortunately, Ange’s words came out a little harsher than she intended, and Ken seemed to flinch slightly. He seemed about to speak but Ange quickly took the opportunity away, cutting him off before he had the chance. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I do need the distraction. Getting through to Evan is even harder than it used to be.” Ange let out a soft sigh, a tiny smile on her face as she nodded at Ken. “So…thank  you for the planes. They’re well folded.” The last bit came out slightly hesitant. She wasn’t sure exactly how one complimented a paper plane, but she did note that the small models were folded with a great deal of care.

“It’s my pleasure,” Ken replied, nodding back as a rather happy grin worked its way onto his face. He met her gaze for a moment and before she could turn away, he quickly spoke up again. “You know, Ms. Finch, if you need a distraction…you could always come fold with me.”

The suggestion was a genuinely innocent one and he grinned brightly at her, his eyes hopeful and Ange couldn’t help but smile a little wider at that. “That’s a very tempting offer, but I’m afraid I’ll have to pass. Paper planes aren’t really my thing.”

“I can teach you,” Ken insisted.

For a second or two, it seemed Ange might decline the offer, but eventually she gave in and shrugged. After all, Ken was right, and this wouldn’t be the first occasion where he helped her take a breather. “Alright, sure. I guess one or two wouldn’t hurt.”

Ken beamed brightly at this, and there was a hint of shock in his expression that she actually said agreed. Spinning in his chair, the man hurriedly pulled up a chair beside his and patted it, gesturing for Ange to take a seat. She did so, and took the blank piece of paper he handed her once she’d sat down. Just one glance at her expression told Ken she felt skeptical over this and probably questioned why she was doing it in the first place. In all honesty, Ken wondered that himself. But his happiness that she decided to share this simple pleasure with him far outweighed that thought. “It’s not very difficult; I promise,” Ken assured her as he slowly began to show her the folds. They were simple enough, of course, but somehow Ange had difficulty with them, and Ken quickly blamed that on her trying to make them more complicated than they were. Perhaps if she took her gaze off Ken’s agile fingers long enough to focus on her own folding she would have managed to keep the paper from becoming a crumpled mess, but that being her outcome, she quickly crumpled the paper in frustration and tossed it in the trash bin. Her mind was completely elsewhere, and the fact she couldn’t manage something so simple as folding a paper only served to frustrate her further.

Ken did his best in remaining patient through all of Ange’s complaints and muttered curses when she ended up with a few papercuts. One would think she’d be used to them or know how to avoid them from working in an office for so many years, but handling the paper in such a foreign way to her made it much difficult to avoid the nasty injuries. Over the course of the next twenty minutes or so, Ken had produced another couple of planes and Ange had only managed a few crumpled piece of paper and a few papercuts (upon which Ken immediately offered her bandages for, but she refused). “I don’t see the point in this,” Ange announced finally, clearly more frustrated than she was distracted like the activity had been intended for. Maybe if her mind wasn’t so focused on the problems with Evan and the anomalies she could accomplish the simple task much easier, but apparently that wouldn’t be the case today. “How is this supposed to be fun?”

“Well, I suppose the folding can be rather calming, but the real fun is figuring out how to fold them right so they’ll fly properly,” he explained. Taking one of the folded planes between his fingers, he carefully aimed it before sending it flying in a wide circle around the room before landing gently against the back wall, and he turned back to her with a look of pride. “I’ve, well…perfected it over the years,” he added as a sidenote, doing his best to sound modest. Ange’s eyes had stayed fixated on the plane until it fell, but once it did her gaze fell back to the desk and she pursed her lips slightly before speaking. “You know, I think I’m going to leave the paper folding to you,” she said after a moment, glancing over at him. “I have too much else on my mind to sit here and learn how to fold a plane. But thank you for trying to help. I appreciate it.”

She stood from the seat she’d taken beside Ken, and his face fell at the abrupt departure. He could easily tell much how much the situation bothered her and he felt almost helpless in cheering her up. Ken watched dejectedly as Ange walked towards the door towards her own office, but as he glanced towards the pile of planes he could see on her office desk, something he failed to mention quickly sprung to mind.

“Ange,” he called out. It immediately got her attention, and her head whipped around as she faced him. For a moment he thought she might reprimand him for calling her by her first name - he’d only ever been allowed to refer to her as ‘Ms. Finch’, but surprisingly she said nothing, merely waiting for him to say what he intended. Somehow she just didn’t mind as much anymore. After all, she’d taken to calling him Ken rather than ‘Lieutenant’ at this point. Perhaps it was time he was given the same opportunity for first name basis. Ken cleared his throat nervously, but when he spoke a tiny smile formed at the corners of his lips. “They’re also good for sending messages, too.”

“Excuse me?”

“The paper planes,” he clarified, seeing her confusion. “They tend to be good for delivering messages to people, too.”

Ange nodded at the statement, not entirely sure what to say. Turning once more, she finally headed back into her office and sat at her desk. Her gaze flicked towards the pile of planes on her desk, and Ken’s words ran through her mind. She tentatively reached for one of the planes, eyes glancing across the hall at Ken’s office for a second before returning back to the paper in her hands. Slowly she began to unfold the careful creases, and as she did, Ange quickly noticed the pristine white of the paper was obscured in some places by words written in black ink. She could only make out bits of a word here or there until she unfolded it the rest of the way, but once she held it open her eyes scanned over the small message written there.

“ _Your hair looks lovely today,_ ” it read, and she couldn’t help but chuckle even through her foul mood. Honestly, she still felt completely unused to receiving compliments, and Ken’s never failed to both surprise her and bring a smile to her face no matter how much she tried to fight it. Setting the unfolded paper aside, she began sifting through the rest. Ange really didn’t expect to find more than one or two more hidden messages within the folds of the planes (who would take the time to write so many?), but to her surprise each and every one had something written in it. Some things were simple, such as “ _Your new lipstick looks really pretty on you,_ ” and others were more even more touching. “ _I couldn’t think of any higher honour than getting to work beside you,_ ” another one read. By the time she finished reading through them, Ange was almost surprised to find her frown had turned completely upside down.

Under most circumstances Ange tried to hide her fondness for the man, even from herself, but reading through the many compliments and uplifting messages, Ange couldn’t even attempt to hide the smile that formed on her face. The frustration that she felt over the anomaly situation and all the trouble it brought along with it still lay under the surface, but Ken’s messages gave her a little ray of sunshine in her day that she wouldn’t have otherwise. That just seemed to be what he did. Gave her little things to smile about no matter how down she felt, and this certainly wasn’t the first time.

Setting the final unfolded plane down on her desk, Ange glanced across the hall inside Ken’s office, and she could see him watching her intently, almost worriedly.. The moment he noticed her gaze, he looked down nervously, but she merely gave him a smile that expressed her gratitude, and perhaps something more. He  just barely caught her gaze as he looked down, and seeing the look made him lift his head once more and beam brightly. The nod they exchanged said it all. It was the small things that seemed so typical of him and yet so special that made her smile through even the worst of times, and right now, she couldn’t ask for anything better.


End file.
